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272   ELIZABETH OAKES SMITH

Soul of Love, O boundless Giver,
Who didst all thyself impart,
And thy blood, a flowing river,
Told how large the loving heart;

Now we see how poor the offering
We have on thine altar cast,
And we bless thee for the suffering
Which hath taught us love at last.

We may feel an inward gladness
For the truth and goodness won,
But far deeper is the sadness
For the good we leave undone.

STANZAS.

O GOD! that we should live, the dull pulse beat,
When all that should be life is cold and sere!
When thought, which angel-like is high and fleet,
Is crush'd to earth, what doth the spirit here!
And yet, and yet I would not feebly shrink
From this dread cup of suffering,— let me drink.

For in this darkest hour there cometh yet
A soothing ministry, unseen but felt;
An inward prompting— Thou wilt not forget!
And tears gush forth,— the eyes that would not melt,
Train'd in the school of grief, at thought of Thee
Pour forth their pen-up fountains, fast and free.

Life-Giver! who hast planted in the soul
This seed-time dread of hopes too high for earth
Emoitions, yearnings, time may not control,
In heaven alone, Oh! hath the harvest birth?
Oh wherefore doth the heart, deluded still,
Its broken urn from earth's dark fountains fill?


ELIZABETH OAKES SMITH.   273

Not at the gory wheel, the fiery stake;
Not where the rack gives forth the lingering breath—
Not there alone do martyr'd spirits break,
Not there alone dost thou find such, O Death!
Another test; crush'd by a hidden weight,
There are who martyrs live to their dark fate.

STRENGTH FROM THE HILLS.

COME up unto the hills! Thy strength is there;
Oh! thou hast tarried long,
Too long amid the bowers and blossoms fair,
With notes of summer song!
Why dost thou tarry here? What though the bird
Pipes matin in the vale—
The plough-boy whistles to the loitering herd
As the red daylights fail?

Yet come unto the hills— the old strong hills,
And leave the stagnant plain;
Come to the gushing of the new-born rills,
As sing they to the main.
And thou shalt dwell with denizens of light;—
The eagle shall be there,
With tireless wing aslant the cloud of night,
Amid the lightning's glare.

Come up unto the hills! The shatter'd oak
There clings unto the rock,
With arms outstretch'd as 't would the storm invoke,
And dare again the shock.
Come where no fear is known, the sea-bird's nest
On the old hemlock swings,
There thou shalt feel the gladness of unrest,
And mount upon thy wings.
S

Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-29 10:30:59 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-29 09:36:17